For the Atlanta Dream, a franchise that had gone 12 years without a WNBA Finals appearance and carried a winless 0-10 all-time record in the championship round, Game 2 of the 2025 WNBA Finals was a night for the history books. Fueled by a career-defining performance from star forward Angel Reese, the Georgia side claimed their first ever Finals victory, downing the expansion Golden State Valkyries 79-65 on the Valkyries’ home court in San Francisco to level the best-of-seven series at one win apiece.
Reese, the 2025 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year who joined Atlanta in an off-season trade from the Chicago Sky, put on a dominant two-way display that will go down in postseason record books: she finished the matchup with 30 points and 16 rebounds, becoming just the third player in league history to notch 30 points and 15 rebounds in a Finals game, joining elite former champions Jonquel Jones (2019) and Breanna Stewart (2020). At 24 years old, she is also the youngest player to ever hit that statistical milestone in a WNBA playoff game.
The game remained tight through the first two quarters, with Atlanta holding a narrow 39-37 lead going into halftime. But the Dream flipped the script in a pivotal 13-minute stretch spanning the third and fourth quarters, putting on a defensive masterclass that held the Valkyries to just eight points, while pouring in 30 points of their own to pull away for good. Reese anchored the run, scoring nine of her total points in that game-changing window to shut down any comeback hopes for the expansion side.
Reese’s standout performance came after a underwhelming showing in Game 1, where the Dream fell 68-64 on Saturday. Speaking to reporters after the win, Reese admitted she had felt she let her team down in the opening game, particularly in the second half, and entered Game 2 with a point to prove. “I walked off the court not feeling like myself, and I wanted to make sure that, this game, I did everything I could do to walk off the court and feel like who I am,” she said. “I was hungry, I think we let one slip away [on Saturday]. You can’t do that. We felt disappointed, we felt embarrassed.”
Atlanta guard Allisha Gray praised Reese’s relentless focus after the win, saying “She just came out on a mission tonight.”
The matchup marked a historic first for both franchises: Atlanta is making their first WNBA Finals appearance since a 2010, 2011 and 2013 three-peat of Finals runs that all ended in 3-0 sweeps, leaving the franchise without a single championship round win entering the 2025 series. For the Golden State Valkyries, the 2025 Finals already represent a historic Cinderella run, as the expansion franchise is competing in the championship in their very first season in the league. Gabby Williams, who led the Valkyries to their Game 1 win, put up 14 points in Game 2, but it was not enough to counter the Dream’s dominant defensive and offensive push. The game even drew a high-profile celebrity spectator: Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry, who attended the matchup alongside his daughter.
After two opening games in California, the series will now shift to Atlanta for the next two matchups. Game 3 is scheduled to tip off on Thursday, October 22 at Atlanta’s 16,000-seat State Farm Arena, with Game 4 to follow two days later on Saturday, October 24.